BCCI opposes Sreesanth's plea for relaxing ban to play in English county cricket

The BCCI on Tuesday opposed the plea by former cricketer S. Sreesanth seeking a relaxation of the lifetime ban on him by the country's apex cricketing body so that he could play in county cricket in England.

Opposing the plea with a "heavy heart", senior counsel Parag Tripathi told the Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra that the apex cricketing body has appealed against the order discharging Sreesanth in the spot-fixing case during IPL 2013.

Tripathi told the court that an inquiry had found him in touch with the bookies through an intermediary.

Tripathi told the court that it was not just a question of law but also that of the BCCI code.

Describing Sreesanth as an "outstanding cricketer", senior counsel Salman Khurshid urged the court to allow him to play cricket in England for the remaining three month season of the game.

At this the court asked the High Court to dispose of the appeal challenging his discharge, pending before it within three months by July end. The court said that it understood the "anxiety" of the cricketer to play the game.

Delhi police had arrested Sreesanth and his two other Rajasthan Royals teammates, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan on the charge of spot-fixing during IPL 2013.

Sreesanth has moved the top court challenging the Kerala High Court order upholding the lifetime ban on him by the BCCI.

In the last hearing on the matter on February 5 senior counsel, Salman Khurshid had said that banning him was itself bad but banning for life was not justified after he has been discharged by the trial court of criminal charges for want of evidence.